The Imperfect Tense of Ahorrar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Yo ahorraba dinero para comprar un coche nuevo. (I was saving money to buy a new car.)

Ahorrar is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Ahorrar (to save) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The imperfect tense of ahorrar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past.

Saving money: For example, Cuando era niño, ahorraba para comprarme juguetes. (When I was a child, I used to save up to buy toys.)

Economizing or being frugal: For example, Mis abuelos ahorraban mucho en la comida. (My grandparents were very frugal with food.)

Colloquial usage: In some Latin American countries, it can mean “to avoid” or “to skimp on” something, for example, Mejor ahorramos en las salidas para poder pagar la renta. (We’d better cut back on going out so we can pay the rent.)

Examples

Examples of Ahorrar in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, ahorraba dinero para comprarme un videojuego. (When I was a child, I used to save money to buy myself a video game.)

Mi abuela ahorraba un poco de su pensión cada mes. (My grandmother used to save a little bit of her pension every month.)

Ellos ahorraban para poder viajar en sus vacaciones. (They used to save up in order to travel during their vacations.)

Nosotros ahorrábamos para comprar una casa nueva. (We used to save up to buy a new house.)

Tú ahorrabas para tu futuro, ¿no? (You used to save for your future, didn’t you?)

Ella ahorraba una parte de su sueldo religiosamente. (She used to religiously save a part of her salary.)

En esa época, ahorrábamos para pagar la universidad de nuestros hijos. (Back then, we used to save up to pay for our children’s university.)

¿Ustedes ahorraban para su retiro? (Did you all use to save for your retirement?)

Yo ahorraba unas monedas en mi alcancía de vez en cuando. (I used to save some coins in my piggy bank from time to time.)

Mis padres ahorraban para poder comprarnos regalos en Navidad. (My parents used to save up in order to buy us gifts for Christmas.)

La familia ahorraba para poder darse algunos lujos de vez en cuando. (The family used to save up in order to afford some luxuries from time to time.)

Antes, ahorrábamos para poder irnos de vacaciones al extranjero. (Before, we used to save up in order to go on vacation abroad.)

Cada quincena, ahorraba un poco para el pago inicial de un auto nuevo. (Every two weeks, I used to save up a little for the down payment on a new car.)

En la universidad, ahorrábamos para poder salir de fiesta los fines de semana. (In university, we used to save up in order to go out partying on the weekends.)

Cuando ahorraba, me sentía más seguro sobre mi futuro financiero. (When I used to save, I felt more secure about my financial future.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Ahorrar (to save) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.